Tri Nations Lamb Group meet in Hawkes Bay

Members of the Tri Nations Lamb Group
from the United States, Australia and New Zealand are
meeting in Hawkes Bay this week to continue work on getting
more Americans to eat lamb.

The three countries set up
this collaborative initiative five years ago to raise
awareness among Americans of the healthy properties of lean
lamb, which is low in fat, low in cholesterol and rich in
essential nutrients like iron, zinc and vitamin B12.

New
Zealand is hosting the annual conference for 2008 and 30
sheep producer delegates from the three countries will take
part in the two day conference. They include members of the
American Sheep Industry Association, American Lamb Board,
National Lamb Feeders Association, Meat & Livestock
Australia, the Sheepmeat Council of Australia, Federated
Farmers New Zealand and Meat & Wool New Zealand.

Meat &
Wool New Zealand Chairman, Mike Petersen said Tri Lamb was
an important forum that enabled the three lamb producing
countries to work together for their combined
benefit.

“The United States holds huge potential for
lamb and if we can get more Americans eating lamb, then we
all benefit as the market grows. American consumers
currently eat very little lamb, but awareness is growing of
its healthy and easy to cook qualities and that is off the
back of Tri Lamb work with nutritionists.”

The Tri
Nations Lamb Group has funded a nutritional promotion,
“Lean on Lamb” that highlighted lean lamb as a healthy
protein source with American nutrition and health
professionals, who in turn encouraged it to be part of a
healthy American diet.

Mr Petersen said the two-day
programme would get an update on this project and there
would also be discussion on sheep genomics and areas where
the three countries could collaborate further.

The sale and manufacture of wash-off products containing plastic microbeads will be banned in New Zealand earlier than previously expected, Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson announced today. More>>

Property Institute of New Zealand Chief Executive Ashley Church is applauding today’s decision, by Prime Minister Bill English, to take Debt-to-income ratios off the table as a tool available to the Reserve Bank. More>>

The Decision-making Committee, appointed by the Board of the Environmental Protection Authority to decide a marine consent application by Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd, has granted consent, subject to conditions, for the company to mine iron sands off the South Taranaki Bight. More>>